A Taste of Torah: Weekly Commentary from the JTS Community

This week's commentary was written by Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz, Senior Rabbinic Fellow

The traditional greeting for Hanukkah, Hag Urim Sameah, Happy
Festival of Lights, speaks to the essence of our holiday
observance — urim — which is the plural of the Hebrew 'or'
meaning light. Indeed, rabbinic commentary underscores this
plurality of light in alluding to three different and
complementary sources of light: a light of creation, a light
of revelation, and a light of redemption.

Our first allusion connects Hanukkah to creation. Once Adam
was expelled from the Garden of Eden, leaving him vulnerable
to the world around him and the vicissitudes of nature, he
noticed the days becoming shorter and shorter. The light of
the sun was diminishing. Adam's limited understanding led him
to believe that this was punishment for his sin. So Adam
declared, "Woe is me! Perhaps it is because I spoiled this
world that darkness is descending upon the world and God is
returning the universe to chaos." Out of a sense of fear and
desperation, Adam prayed and fasted for eight days. But when
the winter solstice arrived and he saw the days getting
longer, he declared, "such is the way of the world." Adam
then observed eight days of feasting and celebration — in
which Adam brought his own light into the world (BT Avodah
Zarah 8a). The rabbis suggest that Adam was the first person
to celebrate the festival of Hanukkah and in so doing he
brought a light of creation into our world.

The second light is the one with which we are all familiar,
that of revelation. God declares God's presence through the
precious miracle of the lights of Hanukkah: a tiny cruse of
oil lasting eight days (BT Shabbat 21b).

Finally, the third light is that of redemption. How so? A
poignant midrash plays on our theme of light probing the
question of why Abraham is chosen by God. The midrash asks,
"to whom may Abraham be likened?" "To a king's friend, who
saw the king walking about in dark alleys and began lighting
the way for him through a window. When the king looked up
and saw him, he said: instead of lighting the way for me from
a distance, come out and light the way for me in my very
presence. So too did God say to Abraham, hithalekh lifanei,
'Walk before Me!': instead of lighting the way for Me from a
distance in Mesopotamia, come light the way for Me in my very
presence — in the Land of Israel" (B'reishit Rabbah 30:10).
What is so striking about this midrash and why is this the
light of redemption? Abraham, a human being, leads the way
for God. He walks before God and creates his own light
before God. That is the truest light of redemption — when we
as human beings light the way for God.

May each of us experience these three lights of creation,
revelation and redemption and may each of us come to truly
light the way before God.

With Wishes for a Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz

The publication and distribution of the Taste of Torah
commentary have been made possible by a generous gift from Sam and Marilee Susi.